Improved biogas production from whole stillage by co-digestion with cattle manure.

Whole stillage, as sole substrate or co-digested with cattle manure, was evaluated as substrate for biogas production in five mesophilic laboratory-scale biogas reactors, operating semi-continuously for 640 days. The process performance was monitored by chemical parameters and by quantitative analysis of the methanogenic and acetogenic population. With whole stillage as sole substrate the process showed clear signs of instability after 120 days of operation.

Silver (Ag+) reduces denitrification and induces enrichment of novel nirK genotypes in soil.

The use of silver ions in industry to prevent microbial growth is increasing and silver is a new and an overlooked heavy-metal contaminant in sewage sludge-amended soil. The denitrifying community was the model used to assess the dose-dependent effects of silver ions on microorganisms overtime in soil microcosms. Silver caused a sigmoid dose-dependent reduction in denitrification activity, and no recovery was observed during 90 days.

Effects of glucose overloading on microbial community structure and biogas production in a laboratory-scale anaerobic digester.

This study characterizes the response of the microbial communities of a laboratory-scale mesophilic biogas process, fed with a synthetic substrate based on cellulose and egg albumin, to single pulses of glucose overloading (15 or 25 times the daily feed based on VS). The microbial biomass and community structure were determined from analyses of membrane phospholipids. The ratio between phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs; eubacteria and eucaryotes) and di-ethers (PLEL; archaea) suggested that methanogens constituted 4-8% of the microbial biomass.